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High School Football

Two years ago against Southern Columbia, Matt Trotta stood in uniform on the sideline as his brother Anthony had a career game with more than a dozen tackles.

That wasn't enough, as Old Forge fell to the Tigers in the first round of the PIAA playoffs at Shamokin's Kemp Memorial Stadium.

But this time, the tables turned, and Matt gave his family, his team and his town, a measure of revenge.

His 14-tackle performance helped stymie a powerful Southern offense, limiting the Tigers to two touchdowns, 36 points under their season average, and the Blue Devils came up with every big stop they needed, posting a 19-14 upset Friday, back at Kemp Memorial Stadium.

"Today, he told me that big players have to step up in big games," Matt said of his conversation with his brother. "This is a big-time game. Southern is a very tough opponent. We had to play all-out. We couldn't stop."

At 5-foot-8, Trotta isn't big enough to take off any plays, and he didn't, especially in the final 2½ quarters when the senior outside linebacker accrued 12 of his tackles.

For the first 20 minutes, the Tigers racked up first downs on eight of nine tries on third down. After a chop-block penalty at the goal line killed a drive that surely would have given Southern a 21-7 lead, Trotta, Shane Schuback (13 tackles) and the rest of the defense played the kind of ball that has put them in the state quarterfinals for the first time.

What Trotta did best was preventing Southern from running the ball outside the numbers. The Tigers came into the game averaging more than 335 yards per game on the ground. Old Forge limited them to 192.

"He set the edge fantastic for us," said Old Forge coach Michael Schuback, lauding Trotta's effort. "Matt did a fantastic job. He filled in at tight end, wide receiver. He's just a football player.

"That's what Old Forge kids are. They're football players. You tell them where to go, you tell them what to do and there is nothing else."

While Brandon Yescavage and Schuback made big plays for the offense, Trotta's nose was into everything, especially in the second half when he had 10 of his tackles. And when he didn't make the play, he forced Southern's stable of running backs to look inside for yardage.

With the pursuit of linemen Joey Bruno, Paul Papi, Corey Souryavong, and linebackers Schuback and Jorden Sekol, easy yards were very hard to find.

"That's the job of the outside linebacker," Trotta said. "You can't let them get outside. They get the edge, there's only one guy out there and your safety. You have to force them back in there where your big players are coming. Those two big linebackers, Shane and Jorden.

"Deny the outside. Don't let them get outside, because if they get outside, they can get running."

That never happened. The Tigers vaunted ground game managed just three rushing plays for more than 10 yards, one of those coming while the Blue Devils were in a prevent defense at the end of the first half.

It was a gutty, gritty effort from everyone on the defensive side of the ball, and Trotta was at the forefront of most of it.

Southern Columbia quarterback Nick Becker had his way early, torching the secondary thanks to all the time his offensive line afforded him. Old Forge hurt itself with penalties, too, and found itself down 14-0 with a minute left in the first quarter.

But like Trotta, there was no getting down. This team has faced adversity before and handled it.

"They made two big pass plays and got a couple penalties that got them ahead," Trotta said.

Kids with heart and courage, too, and an ability to rise to the occasion. Southern twice started drives from its own 48 and came up with nothing, the second time thanks to Trotta, Bobby Rinaldi and Jake Manetti, who stacked up Adam Feudale on fourth-and-1 at the Old Forge 33.

On the next play, Shane Schuback broke loose on a 30-yard run. He fumbled at the end of the play, and there was Trotta, hustling behind the play to pounce on the ball.

"I had to step up on the fourth-down play," Trotta said. "We had to deny them and we knew we needed the ball.

"When Shane fumbled and I saw it on the ground, there was no way I wasn't going to recover that. It was staying Old Forge ball."

Which was key, even though Old Forge ended up with no points on the drive. Moments like that are disheartening when the other team sees sheer hustle result in a positive outcome.

One that will result in Trotta and his teammates playing in the quarterfinals Friday against Schuylkill Haven.

Contact the writer: mmyers@timesshamrock.com @mmyersTT on Twitter

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